Last month, ASIFA-Hollywood announced the nominees for the 52nd annual Annie Awards. As in years past, CalArtians are among those recognized for excellence and contributions in the field of animation across 37 categories and honors.
The Best Feature category is packed with CalArtian talent, with three of the six nominees boasting alumni connections: Inside Out 2 (Pixar Animation Studios), and Ultraman: Rising (Netflix Presents in association with Tsuburaya Productions), and The Wild Robot (DreamWorks Animation).
Inside Out 2, the sequel to the 2015 hit, is a continuation of the story of Riley Andersen as she navigates the complexities of high school life. Many CalArtians helped bring the film to life, including: Executive Producer Pete Doctor (Film/Video BFA 90); Character Designers Crystal Kung (Film/Video BFA 22) and Albert Lozano (Film/Video BFA 94); Lead Storyboard Artist Louise Smyth (Film/Video BFA 10); and animators Jeff Pidgeon (Film/Video BFA 88), Bobby Podesta (Film/Video BFA 97), and Ambika Luthra (Film/Video BFA 19).
The beloved Japanese Ultraman franchise finds new life in Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising, with Shannon Tindle (Film/Video BFA 99) and John Aoshima (Film/Video BFA 00) credited as writer/director and co-director, respectively. The film follows Ken Sato, a baseball superstar who returns to Japan to assume the role of Ultraman, defender of Earth. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he is forced to raise the offspring of his greatest foe, a newborn kaiju (a monster).
Ultraman: Rising also showcases the talents of CalArts alums Mayumi Nose (Film/Video BFA 12) and Tony Siruno (Film/Video BFA 95), who contributed to the character design. School of Film/Video faculty Christopher Mitchell and Andy Bialk are also credited in the film, lending their talents to story and visual development, respectively.
DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot, an adaptation of Peter Brown’s bestselling book, was helmed by acclaimed writer-director and CalArts alum Chris Sanders (Film/Video BFA 84). The film tells the story of ROZZUM unit 7134, or “Roz,” a robot stranded on an uninhabited island who must navigate the harsh wilderness and form unexpected bonds with the animals of the island. Multiple CalArtians played key roles in bringing The Wild Robot to the big screen, including head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert (Film/Video BFA 07); story artists Benjamin Balistreri (Film/Video MFA 97) and Steven Macleod (BFA 07); character designer Heidi Smith (Film/Video BFA 08); animation supervisor Drew Adams (Film/Video BFA 98); and animator Ed Bell (Film/Video BFA 98).
Sanders is also nominated in the Best Direction – Feature category.
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur episode “The Molecular Level” earned a nod in the Best Editorial – TV/Media category. CalArts alum Sandra Powers (Film/Video MFA 09) is named as a nominee, alongside Phil Lomboy, Ryan Burkhard, Neil Wilson III, and Gabe Oh.
Among the prestigious juried awards is the Special Achievement Award, which will be given to Directing at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt’s Animated Films, written by Pete Docter (Film/Video BFA 90) and Don Peri. The “historically important” book is a collection of the studio’s untold history, chronicling the progression of the animation director role from the 1920s through the ‘70s.
The 52nd annual Annie Awards will take place Feb. 8 at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be free to watch on the Annie Awards livestream site.
Find the full list of nominees at the official Annie Awards website.
